CRIJ 6620 Instructions
PLEASE PLEASE follow the instructions word-for-word. I expect a well written, grammatically correct essay. The essay should be approximately 3 single-spaced pages in length (not counting the References page). Please make sure this paper is NOT PLAIGRIZED. I need this paper to be strong from start to finish. This paper is a graduate-Master?s level.
Reading and Writing Assignments for the Death Penalty Essay
Material on the Death Penalty is easy to find. Do your own research on the Death Penalty, then locate and read these cases on the Death Penalty generally (from findlaw):
Furman v. Georgia, 408 U.S. 238 (1972) – temporarily outlawing the use of the Death Penaltybecause its application was arbitrary.
Gregg v. Georgia, 428 U.S. 153 (1976) – reinstating the use of the Death Penalty because the State of Georgia set up a fair (?) statutory scheme for the imposition of the Death Penalty.
McCleskey v. Kemp, 481 U.S. 279 (1987) – questioning whether the Death Penalty has actually been ?fixed.?
Mental Retardation and the Death Penalty:
Penry v. Johnson (this is a difficult case to read, try to get the gist of it but do not get bogged down in the details) link: http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=us&vol=000&invol=00-6677
Atkins v. Virginia: link: http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=us&vol=000&invol=00-8452
Juvenile Death Penalty: Roper v. Simmons link: http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=US&vol=000&invol=03-633
COMMENTS: Again, several of the cases assigned for this lesson are difficult to read. The factual details in the Gregg case, for example, are not of much value for the ?death penalty? essay. There is a huge amount of information on the Internet debating the effectiveness of the death penalty in terms of deterrence and retribution.
Death Penalty Essay Question: Explain the evolution of the Death Penalty in America and how recent death penalty cases add to, and depart from the earliest Supreme Court cases addressing capital punishment. What indications can be found in Supreme Court cases that the Court will someday entirely abolish the death penalty?
